Ball pick-up game

ABSTRACT

A game for children where the players roll a hook and loop receptive ball (such as a large tennis ball) at a plurality of hook and loop covered game pieces placed on a game board, so that the game pieces become attached to the ball. The game board can be in the form of a zoo, an ark, a house, etc. and the game pieces can be in the form of animals, numbers, letters, words, family members, etc. Players roll the ball to pick up the game pieces, and then place them in a collection area (such as a zoo cage for an animal). The first player to place all of their game pieces in their collection area is the winner. The game is a learning tool aimed at children ages 3-9 years old.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to game sets that include hook and loop covered game pieces, which pieces are particularly useful with young children, as well as adult players.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hook and loop material which is commonly known as Velcro® is used in a variety of different game sets. Prior art patents exist in which mating sections of Velcro® or similar attachment material are used to facilitate adherence of an object to the front surface of a play article. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,902 to Foster et al. discloses a floor game for children that uses a hook and loop receptive ball such as a tennis ball and a plurality of disks (or game pieces) that are covered with a hook and loop material. The ball is thrown at the game pieces in order come into contact with the disk. When the disk sticks to the ball, the opposing player keeps the disk, and when all the disks are gone the player with the fewest disks wins. U.S. Pat. No. 6,299,172 to McMurray discloses a game with game pieces, a target, and boundary pieces, all of which are covered with hook and loop material, and marker pieces for identifying point values.

While each of the aforementioned games may be useful for their intended purposes, it would be desirable to have a hook and loop based game that is played with rules that are easily understood and enjoyed by toddlers and young children. It would also be useful to provide a game board and game pieces for a hook and loop game that follow a theme which can be understood and played by young people between the ages of 3 and 9 years old.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a game set for assisting a child in learning and game play. In one aspect, the invention provides a ball pick-up game set for one or more players, the game set comprising: (a) a ball having a first attachment material covering the surface thereof; (b) a game board including a playing surface, the playing surface including a plurality of collection areas for placement of game pieces, the first attachment material covering the playing surface; and (c) a plurality of game pieces, each game piece being substantially flat and including a first side and a second side, the first side including a second attachment material for attaching the game piece to the first attachment material covering the ball surface or the playing surface.

In another aspect, the invention provides a method of playing a ball pick-up game for one or more players, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a ball, a game board, and a plurality of game pieces for at least one player, the ball having a first attachment material covering the surface thereof, the game board including a playing surface, the playing surface including a plurality of collection areas for placement of game pieces, the first attachment material covering the playing surface, each of the plurality of game pieces being substantially flat and including a first side and a second side, the first side including a second attachment material for attaching the game piece to the first attachment material covering the ball surface or the playing surface, the second side having a substantially even surface which will not stick to the ball or the playing surface; (b) placing the plurality of game pieces onto the playing surface so that the first side of each substantially flat game piece faces upward; (c) directing the at least one player to roll the ball onto the playing surface in order to cause the ball to attach to at least one of the plurality of game pieces when any area of the at least one game piece comes into contact with the ball as it rolls along the playing surface; (d) allowing the ball to stop rolling or to travel off of the playing surface; (e) directing the player to remove game pieces that have attached to the ball and to place the removed game pieces in one of the plurality of collection areas so that the first side of each removed game piece faces downward; and (f) repeating steps (c) through (e) until all of the at least one player's game pieces have been placed in the collection areas.

The nature and advantages of the present invention will be more fully appreciated from the following drawings, detailed description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The aspects and advantages of the invention will be better understood from the following detailed description, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the ball pick-up game set of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view of a game piece and game board of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As used herein, “first attachment material” means a material having a surface which causes adherence, sticking or mating with a second attachment material, and “second attachment material” means a material having a surface which causes adherence, sticking or mating with the first attachment material. Items covered with or otherwise presenting the first attachment material on their surface will become attached to items covered with or otherwise presenting the second attachment material upon contact between the first and second attachment materials.

As a non-limiting example, the “first attachment material” can include a multitude of irregularly entangled filamentary formations such as that seen in felt, cotton, polyester, blends of such materials, or a variety of other synthetic materials as is known in the art, and the “second attachment material” can include a hook and loop type fastening material commonly referred to as Velcro®. Alternatively, the first and second attachment materials can be magnetic in nature, so long as they attach to one another upon contact. The figures illustrate a ball covered with a first attachment material in the form of felted, entangled fibers like those that cover a tennis ball, and a second attachment material is in the form of a strip of hook and loop type fastening material.

The present invention relates to a game set for assisting a child in learning and game play. As shown in FIG. 1, a player 11 is playing a preferred embodiment of the game set 10 of the present invention which includes a ball 12 and a game board 14 having a playing surface 16. Both the ball 12 and the playing surface 16 are covered with a first attachment material 15, as defined herein. The playing surface 16 receives game pieces 20 which, as best seen in FIG. 2, are substantially flat and two-sided with a “sticky” side 21 covered with a second attachment material 21, as defined herein. The first attachment material 15 covering the ball 12 and the playing surface 16 will become attached to the second attachment material on the sticky side 21 of the game piece, should they come in to contact with one another. The “smooth” side 23 of the game pieces 20 have a substantially even surface which will not stick to the ball 12 or playing surface 16.

Looking at FIG. 1, the playing surface 16 includes a plurality of collection areas 18 for placement of game pieces 20 won by the player. As illustrated, the collection areas 18 of the playing surface 16 can be designed to correspond to the theme of the game set, such as animal cages for a zoo. The playing surface can also be designed, for example, to depict collection areas as rooms of a house, for a family theme. The playing surface 16 and the game board 14 can be one and the same, or the game board 14 can be a hard backing such as cardboard to provide structural support for a felted playing surface 16.

The second attachment material of the sticky side 21 of each game piece 20 either sticks to the first attachment material 15 covering the ball 12, or to the playing surface 16, but not to both at the same time. For example, prior to starting the game each game piece 20 is initially placed “sticky side up” and “smooth side down” so that the sticky side 21 of the game piece does not stick to the playing surface 16 but will stick to ball 12 the if the ball happens to roll over it. To play the game, a designated player initially rolls the ball 12 onto the playing surface 16 of the game board 14 with the intent that the ball 12 will roll onto or over the top of one or more of the plurality of game pieces 20, which are all initially placed sticky side 21 up on the playing surface 16. The ball 12 with therefore stick to and pick up or otherwise collect game pieces 20 as it rolls along the playing surface 16 (also referred to as “capturing” or “winning” the game piece). Once the ball 12 has stopped or traveled off of the playing surface 16, the player then removes any game pieces 20 that have been “captured” by the ball and places them “sticky side down” in a designated collection area 18 reserved for each game piece. For example, the player will place the zebra game piece into the collection area that is a zebra cage. In this manner, game pieces 20 that have been “captured” or “won” by that player will remain in their respective collection area 18 with their “smooth side up”. Game pieces with the smooth side 23 facing up will not stick to the ball 12 should the ball roll over that game piece again.

As shown in FIG. 1, the playing surface 16 of the game board 14 can depict a certain “theme” such as, here, a schematic representation of zoo grounds thereon, which includes cages 18 as collection areas, and zoo animals as game pieces 20. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the zoo animals 20 are initially placed on the board “walking free” outside of their cages 18, with the hook and loop material on their “sticky” sides 21 facing up, so that they stick to the ball 12 when it is rolled. Animals 20 captured by the ball 12 are then placed in their appropriate cage 18 with the “sticky” side 23 down so that, upon future rolls of the ball, they stay in their cage and are not picked up by the ball.

In one embodiment, each player has their own game board 14 which has a single playing surface 16 thereon, as shown in FIG. 1. As a non-limiting example, one player can have a blue colored game board and another can have a red colored game board, each game board having the same theme on the playing surface. If the “blue” player rolls the ball over their blue game board and picks up, for example, a giraffe game piece 20, that giraffe is placed in the giraffe cage 18 on the blue playing surface. The players take turns, with the “red” player next rolling the ball over their red playing surface and placing any captured animals in their designated cages. The winner of the game is the first player to fill all of the cages in their zoo. In another embodiment (not shown), a single game board can include multiple playing surfaces; for example, four playing surfaces of differing colors can be included on a single folding game board, so that up to four players can play together using the same board. The animals can initially be placed anywhere on the game board for capture, with each player placing their specifically colored animals in the cages of their specifically colored playing surface.

As shown in the figures, the game pieces can include zoo animals such as monkeys, elephants, giraffes and lions which are easily learned and recognized by younger children ages 3-6 years old. However, for children ages 6-9 years old the game pieces can be letters, words, or numbers that symbolize specific animals; for example, the letter “G” for giraffe, “M” for monkey, or “Z” for zebra. The game pieces can also be pictures of family members, historical characters, or they can be manufactured to produce certain sounds (e.g. an animal sound such as a lion's roar) for the players to identify.

Also, while a zoo is one preferred theme of the present invention, the game board and game pieces can also be made to depict other themes, such as an ark theme, a school theme, a house/family theme, etc. for use as a learning tool for toddlers and young children. In any event, the rules of the game are always the same: a player rolls the ball 12 over the game pieces 20 to pick them up, and these game pieces are then placed in their designated collection area 18 on that player's playing surface 16. When all of a player's game pieces have been picked up and placed in their designated collection areas, that player is declared the winner and the game can be played again.

The present invention provides a new game set that combines the elements of chance, aiming and rolling skills such that a number of different players can participate and effectively compete with one another regardless of their age or aiming abilities. Further, the present invention provides an effective learning tool for children in the form of an educational game that is simple and easy to use; one that is simple enough to generate interest in children at an early age, yet challenging enough so as to maintain interest in older children as well. Furthermore, the present invention provides an intriguing and challenging system that has both educational and entertainment value. In regards to the educational value, it builds, enhances, and develops knowledge about different themes. While the inventive game set is easily adapted to electronic media, such as a computer, a hand held game, a television screen, or the like, it is preferably intended to be easily manufactured and sold relatively inexpensively in physical form, which allows more energy and skill to be expended than is required/allowed by electronic media.

While the present invention is capable of embodiment in various forms as shown in the drawings, these embodiments are considered an exemplification of the invention and are not intended to limit the invention to the specific embodiments illustrated. Additional advantages and modifications of the details of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, departures may be made from such details without departing from the scope of the invention. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A ball pick-up game set for one or more players, the game set comprising: a) a ball having a first attachment material covering the surface thereof; b) a game board including a playing surface, the playing surface including a plurality of collection areas for placement of game pieces, the first attachment material covering the playing surface; and c) a plurality of game pieces, each game piece being substantially flat and including a first side and a second side, the first side including a second attachment material for attaching the game piece to the first attachment material covering the ball surface or the playing surface.
 2. The game set of claim 1, wherein the second side of each game piece has a substantially even surface which will not stick to the ball or the playing surface.
 3. The game set of claim 1, wherein the playing surface depicts a simulated zoo, the collection areas depict animal cages within the zoo, and the game pieces depict zoo animals.
 4. The game set of claim 1, wherein the ball is a tennis ball, the playing surface is constructed from felt, and the second attachment material is a hook and loop material.
 5. The game set of claim 4, wherein the game board is constructed from a material which provides structural support for the playing surface.
 6. The game set of claim 1, wherein the game board includes a plurality of playing surfaces of differing colors.
 7. A method of playing a ball pick-up game for one or more players, the method comprising the steps of: a) providing a ball, a game board, and a plurality of game pieces for at least one player, the ball having a first attachment material covering the surface thereof, the game board including a playing surface, the playing surface including a plurality of collection areas for placement of game pieces, the first attachment material covering the playing surface, each of the plurality of game pieces being substantially flat and including a first side and a second side, the first side including a second attachment material for attaching the game piece to the first attachment material covering the ball surface or the playing surface, the second side having a substantially even surface which will not stick to the ball or the playing surface; b) placing the plurality of game pieces onto the playing surface so that the first side of each substantially flat game piece faces upward; c) directing the at least one player to roll the ball onto the playing surface in order to cause the ball to attach to at least one of the plurality of game pieces when any area of the at least one game piece comes into contact with the ball as it rolls along the playing surface; d) allowing the ball to stop rolling or to travel off of the playing surface; e) directing the player to remove game pieces that have attached to the ball and to place the removed game pieces in one of the plurality of collection areas so that the first side of each removed game piece faces downward; and f) repeating steps (c) through (e) until all of the at least one player's game pieces have been placed in the collection areas.
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the at least one player includes more than one player and each player takes turns rolling the ball, and wherein the first player to place all of their game pieces in the collection areas is declared the winner of the game.
 9. The method of claim 7, wherein the playing surface depicts a simulated zoo, the collection areas depict animal cages within the zoo, and the game pieces depict zoo animals.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the ball is a tennis ball, the playing surface is constructed from felt, and the second attachment material is a hook and loop material.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the game board is constructed from a material which provides structural support for the playing surface. 